Dave Bautista Talks Drax In Guardians of the Galaxy 2

“It’s an extended version of the first film, for the Drax character. There’s just a lot more … most people’s first perception of Drax would be he’s just a big, muscly brute, and he’s just going to go in and be an all-action character. But he’s more funny, driven … there’s a lot more of that. He gets closer and more caring with the other Guardians, and they become more of a solid family in this one. If I had to put a tag on this second film I would say ‘family,’ that’s kind of the theme.”

James Gunn also had good things to say recently about Dave Bautista as Drax, as Gunn offered the following while wishing Dave Bautista a happy birthday on Facebook:

Dave is truly one of the greatest guys I know - humble and compassionate and funny. Not only that, he is an amazing (and an amazingly underrated actor). He's been blowing people's minds in our early screenings of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 - exponentially increasing the raw emotion and humor he displayed in the first movie. I couldn't be more proud of having fought for him to play Drax four and a half years ago.